Page 87 of Ruthless Intent

My hand touches the gate, and that’s when I hear my name shouted from behind me.

Heart hammering against my ribs, I unlatch the gate, throw it open, then bolt through it. The ground beneath my feet is uneven, but my only thought is to put as much space between myself and Zain as possible.

He shouts my name again. Closer, this time.

I turn left. Continuing straight will be a mistake. He’ll expect me to do that. I have to keep changing direction. It might take me longer to reach the road, but it should slow Zain down as well because he’ll need to work out where I am.

I turn right and almost twist my ankle when the ground dips, but I catch myself against a tree trunk and regain my balance. The snap of a twig behind me drives me forward, and I take off again.

My breath is loud in my ears, my heart pounding so hard, I’m sure it’s going to burst out of my chest. I feel like my lungs are on fire. I’ve always thought that I’m reasonably fit. I go to the gym three times a week, but this crazy run through the forest is telling me otherwise.

A laugh rises up my throat.

I should have spent more time on the treadmill.

I take another left. I’m not even sure if I’m going in the right direction to find the road anymore, and I daren’t slow down to find out. I just keep running.

A shout comes from close behind me. My name.

Zain.

He’s found me already.

My head snaps around, searching him out, and my foot steps out … onto air.

I’m going too fast to stop, there’s nothing to hold onto, and I go headlong down the hill. Pain explodes through my shoulder, my ankle … and then my head.

Everything turns black.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

ZAIN

I’m halfway up the stairs when I hear the door slam. It takes me a second or two to figure out what the noise is.

Fuck.

I underestimated her.

I thought watching the two recordings would break her, showing just how bad a situation she’s put herself in.

I thought hearing the truth of what she did would force her to see that she deserves what I’m doing.

I thought it would be safe to leave her alone to eat, while I collected her clothes.

I thought wrong.

I enter the kitchen just in time to see her through the window, running toward the gate at the end of the yard.

There’s a part of me that’s impressed by the way she hasn’t let the fact she’s almost naked stop her from trying to escape.

But it won’t help her. I’m not going to let her get away from me that easily.

And now she’s just made things for herself a whole lot worse.

I don’t hurry as I follow her. She’s crashing around so much, it’s easy to locate her. When I call her name, she curses.

Clearly not a woman who’s spent much time in the wilderness. She has no idea how to hide where she’s going. It’s been a long time since I’ve tracked anything through this forest, but the years I spent out here with Jason camping and fooling around when we were kids comes to my aid now.

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